Baruch College Students Volunteer To Prepare Tax Returns

IRS-Certified Students to Provide Public Service for the Community

NEW YORK, NY, Jan. 31, 2011 — Can’t afford to file this year’s tax returns? Thanks to a student led organization, New Yorkers may be eligible to have their tax returns prepared at no-cost through the Baruch Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program starting on Friday, February 4th through April 17th at seven locations throughout the city.

Services are free and no appointments are necessary. Particular locations offer E-filing services, weekend hours and interpreters for the following languages:Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Russian and Korean. See complete list.

“I can personally relate to many of the clients who use our service,” says Dennis Wang ’11, President of VITA at Baruch College. “My parents were immigrants to the United States and knew little English so they both worked for little pay. Asking them to pay $75 or more for an accountant was not feasible on our budget, but filing their taxes was the only way to get our refund. Looking back, this would have been a great service for us.”

The VITA tax program kicks off at Baruch College, 151 East 25th Street (between Lexington and Third Avenue), a reliable location for interviews and video footage for your news story. Tax preparers will be on the job Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, noon to 8 pm; Friday, noon to 7 pm and Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm.

VITA was created by the IRS in 1969, and Baruch VITA was established in the early 1990's. Most Baruch tax volunteers are majoring in Finance or Accountancy. They will prepare federal tax forms 1040 and 1040A and New York State tax forms IT 201 and IT 150, as well as all accompanying schedules.

The VITA tax program welcomes everyone, but is specifically aimed at immigrant and low-income New Yorkers who may not be able to afford the service or face language barriers. Last year Baruch VITA volunteers prepared more than 6,600 returns for clients.